The original of SAAB using the numerical nomenclature 9, is that this number was an indication that the project was a non-military, but a civilian project.

The SAAB Scandia 90 (pictured above) was the first civilian project, followed by the SAAB Safir 91, then finally the automobile being SAAB 92001 in 1946, and the beginning of production models with the SAAB 92. Here is a list of all of the the projects from the beginning until the present.

In 1944, believe it or not, Saab made a number of boats too, 250 in fact.

Here is a passage from the book “The Saab Spirit”

“A graveyard of Saab shot skywards like its planes. The seemingly inevitable World War came and, when its end was finally in sight, the firm’s director’s Ragnar Wahrgren and Sven Otterbeck started to think about alternatives. Who would need fighter planes once the war was over? It appeared to be more lucrative to build light and durable rowing boats out of aluminum rather than planes. Seriously, in 1944 this idea was top of the list in plans for the future of Saab – ahead of prefabricated houses and built-in kitchen equipment.
But instead of ending, the ware flared up again even more violently and drove away these ideas. Prefabricated houses, kitchen equipment and light aluminum boats went down the drain.
The decision not to build boats was not a difficult one for the plane manufacturers. They built 250 of these little aluminum craft with a pair of small aerofoils under the boat and they sold a few in Africa but it was just not possible to turn them into a profitable business. The boats were good on the water but not on the market. Saab concluded its excursion into the boat building business industry and scuttled the small aluminum boats. The traces of this nautical escapade disappered with a short gurgle. They can still be viewed by experienced divers: the graveyard of the small aluminum boats is on the bottom of Lake VÃ¤nern near TrollhÃ¤ttan.

Here is the lake where a number of these boats are stilll apparently located in.

Saab owners and enthusiasts for a number of years have had some interesting options when it came to camping with their beloved Saab automobiles.

One of these items is known as the Saabo, another was the Topolla and of course we have always had the traditional tent.

It was not as clear to me that these options were still widely used today until my return to Sweden last summer during the 2005 Saab Festival in TrollhÃ¤tten. Although I did not plan ahead to camp during this event, I did manage to visit the campsite when my friend from Iceland showed me around.

I think there could be a possibility that I will ditch the traditional accomodations altogether for an opportunity to camp amongst a great group of Saab owners and enthusiasts from all over the world.

I have provided descriptions and photos I took from the Saab Festival 2005 last summer in TrollhÃ¤tten, Sweden. Enjoy and please let me know what your thoughts are by posting a comment!

Saabo

The Saabo which is a trailered camper that was available between 1960 and 1968.

The SAABO caravan (camper/travel trailer) was manufactured in Ljunga, outside NorrkÃ¶ping. The project was started by Bo Bjernekull of the Ljunga plant and Birger Lindberg at SAAB in LinkÃ¶ping.

Officially they were working on a project called MEFAN that was supposed to produce hovercrafts for the military.

Unofficially they made a camper caravan. The idea was to get a product to even out the worlkoad at the helicopter department, that at the time mainly assembled helicopters manufactured in France. After making a model in 1:10 scale they received the OK for production. A first prototype was made at FisksÃ¤tra boatyard and the pre-production prototypes at Marieholms Bruk. The first prototypes were made without brakes, but these were soon added. It was important to keep the weight down as the caravan would be used with automobiles with as little as 25 hp (19 kW, like the 38 hp (28 kW) two stroke Saab 96.

Despite the small size they were designed to accommodate a family of four (five with an extra bunk). The interior consisted of two sofas, a dining table, galley sink and two wardrobes. Liquified petroleum gas was used for cooking, heating and lighting. The design was made with two half shells of fibreglass enclosing an insulation of folded cardboard.

The SAABO had large, low set front and rear windows so the driver of the towing vehicle could look right through it in the rear view mirror.

The Toppola on the other hand was a camper shell that began in 1982 originally for the Saab 99 Combi Coupe, then the 900, the Saab 9-3. They state that they are looking for another company to pickup the production, so an entrepreurial spirited business minded Saab Enthusiast has a great opportunity on their hands! Wouldn’t it be nice to see this in other countries as well as Sweden?

Lastly, we have the classic “Saab vs. The Tent” arrangement. As you can see, this is probably the most simplistic method for a good nights sleep in the wilderness. This 9-3 Convertible owner has managed to pitch the tent, but raising the convertible top is another story altogether.

The name Viggen means The Thunderbolt, derived from the Norse god Thor’s warhammer MjÃ¶lner.

The SAAB JA 37 Viggen was had it’s first maiden run in 1967, with production starting in 1970 and ending in 1990.

Since we’re on the topic of great SAAB aircraft, the Viggen was one that had such a great following, an automobile was created from it. In a way, the Viggen idea parallels that of the history of Saab in that the Viggen automobile was “born from jets”. I have provided some quotes, photos and videos for your enjoyment.

“The name ‘Viggen’ has a mythological background: it is the clap of Mjolnir, Thor’s hammer.”

A recent clip of the SAAB J 37 Draken came up on Google videos lately, and I just had to post it! I think the video is quite entertaining. It appears to be done in the X-plane simulator that I mentioned previously. The music on this video is very relaxing to say the least!

If the creator of this video could send us a note here, I would be interested in finding out where one can download that SAAB plane in X-plane flight simulator. It looks like fun!